April 03, 2008

"Denham calls for probe of signature gathering"

"State Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, has called on authorities to investigate what he alleged was "blatant fraud" by signature gatherers involved with efforts to recall him from office.

Denham's campaign spokesman Jeff Spillane today said nearly half of the paid signature gatherers who worked for the recall side to get it on the ballot live outside the 12th district and are, thus, in violation of California election laws.

A spokesman with the camp of Sen. Don Perata, the Senate president from Oakland who's leading efforts to recall Denham, has denied any wrongdoing and said the accusations have "no merit."

The article is here.

The problem with Denham's claim is that a California Court of Appeal recently ruled that this type of circulator residency requirement is unconstitutional.

Posted by Randy Riddle at April 3, 2008 10:33 AM